


A New Beginning

by rudennotgingr



Series: 52 Week Challenge That Will Take Longer Than 52 Weeks [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-03
Updated: 2016-06-03
Packaged: 2018-07-12 02:03:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7080157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rudennotgingr/pseuds/rudennotgingr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Run as fast as you can and hope for the best.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A New Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Week 1 Prompt: Entitled "A New Beginning"
> 
> Unbeta'd, all mistakes are mine.

The Doctor’s hearts beat triple, no...quadruple time against his rib cage. They beat so rapidly that it felt like one prolonged squeeze within his chest. His trainers pounded on the ground, his long strides eating up the concrete while his arms pumped at his sides as if they were wings, further propelling him forward.

The smile on his face was so wide it hurt. It matched the beaming grin on Rose’s face, so the slight discomfort was more than worth it.

She was running towards him from the opposite end of the abandoned street. In the dark sky above them there was a war for the Earth, for the entire universe, chugging along without them. He should be up there, going toe to toe with his age old enemy. After two long years without her smile, without her laugh, without her hand securely in his, he was allowing himself this one moment of self indulgence, of selfishness, to rush toward the one thing he wanted most in all of time and space.

Rose Tyler.

Initially, he had been hesitant, afraid to hope that the universe was finally showing him some kindness. His mind had lost the argument as his body had began moving without his express permission, pulled to her like being influenced by the gravitational tug of a giant star.

He still thought she would vanish into thin air the moment he would be able to put his arms around her. He ran anyway.

A cold, robotic voice cut through the quiet, shattering his dream and tossing him into a nightmare, “EXTERMINATE.”

The Doctor had intended to grab Rose and shield her with his body, his protective instinct kicking in without question. He was certain that the Dalek had taken aim with the intent of hitting him and not Rose, but he wanted to err on the side of caution. Rose’s life was never something he gambled with.

He was taken by surprise when she closed the distance and put all her momentum into shoving him to the ground.

He stumbled backwards before colliding with hard concrete and rolling onto his stomach. The sting barely registered, his mind was in a panic. He flipped on to his back, his hearts dropping as Rose’s grunt of pain reached his ears. He opened his mouth to shout her name, but no sound came out. Dry air ripped at his useless vocal cords.

The violent light faded from her body as she collapsed.

The Dalek exploded, followed by the sounds of familiar voices arguing. He ignored them as he scrambled to Rose’s side.

Grief and despair threatened to swallow him whole. He had been an idiot to believe that the universe would show him any degree of kindness. Yet, there was a small and persistent sense of something not being right that felt oddly encouraging.

“Rose,” he choked out, crouching at her side and brushing the loose hair out of her face.

Her eyelids fluttered open, her confused gaze searching the area before landing on his face. She gave him a weak smile. “Hello.”

“Hello,” he replied automatically, unable to stop his answering grin despite the sadness clawing at his insides. “Rose, what were you thinking?”

She coughed, then lifted a hand to his face. He leaned into her warm touch, a touch his body had been aching for since Torchwood and Bad Wolf Bay.

“I want you safe, my Doctor.”

Tears welled in his eyes at her familiar words. Overcome with emotion and the need to hold her, he tried to pull her limp body into his lap.

Rose pushed against his chest with more strength than he expected and she shook her head.

“Rose, what--”

“You need to back up.” Her voice was hard, her words ground out through gritted teeth.

He looked down at her in confusion.

She tossed her head back, crying out in pain. A spasm shuddered through her body and her eyes rolled back before she wrenched them shut.

“You’re hurt. I’m not leaving you.”

“Doctor,” she groaned. “Please. I can’t control it the way you can.”

“What are you--”

“Back. Up.”

He searched her face, finding pain mixed with steadfast resolution. He was so focused on her suffering that he came dangerously close to over looking the more evident emotion burning intensely in her eyes.

Love.

Rose brushed her thumb over his cheek. “Trust me. Please.”

Clenching his jaw, biting back the arguments attempting to explode past his lips, he nodded. Gripping her wrist, he placed a quick kiss to her palm before stumbling away from her. Every cell, every molecule in his being screamed at him to go back to her, to not leave her wounded and dying in the middle of an abandoned street.

Her arms wrapped around her torso, a low groan escaped her mouth and her eyes closed once more. The voices the Doctor had heard bickering earlier approached slowly, now whispering urgently to each other behind his back.

He ignored them.

A small prickle had started at the base of his skull. Or had it been there since he and Donna had fled the Shadow Proclamation? Being aware of its presence spurred it on to be a persistent buzz pushing against his mind. He mentally batted the unknown sensation away, his concern for Rose reaching a climax as he watched her roll to her side, groaning, then struggle to get on her hands and knees. Her eyes locked on to his.

“I”m sorry,” she mouthed.

A scream clawed its way out of her throat. He took a step forward, unable to idly stand by when she was clearly in agony. A familiar golden light burned from beneath her eyelids before she was consumed by a blazing yellow fire, shooting out from her hands and neck.

The Doctor jerked back, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.

“Doctor,” Donna’s soft voice asked from on his right, “what’s happening?”

He worked his jaw, no sound coming out. He knew what it looked like was happening. But he refused to admit it.

“She’s regenerating,” a man the Doctor could now clearly identified as Jack Harkness said from behind him.

“She can’t,” the Doctor stated flatly.

The golden light faded away, leaving behind a woman huddled on the ground with vibrant red hair. His jaw dropped.

Slowly, she stood up, allowing him a full glimpse of the woman who had taken Rose’s place. She was a mere inch taller and her clothes fit a bit tighter. He gulped. 

Her hair hung somewhere between her waist and her shoulder blades. He couldn't quite tell from here and the new texture, wavy and slightly wild without being unkempt, made it even more difficult to determine its exact length. Her skin tone was a shade darker and freckles covered her face, more prominent than his own.

He wondered what other areas of her body were now covered in freckles.

Her mouth was smaller matching her new narrower jaw line.

He should say something, _anything_ , to break the silence. This body’s usual ability to run his gob more than he should was failing him. He was still too overcome by shock. Seeing her again, watching her get shot by a dalek, and now, against all odds, she had regenerated before his very eyes. His gaze kept darting to her hair. Nine regenerations and he had never been a proper ginger. Her first time and she lands the perfect ginger hair. Lots of it and bangs with side part that brushed the tops of her cheekbones without hiding her eyes.

Eyes...her eyes were the same brown flecked with gold.

Rose was worrying her bottom lip, watching him uncertainly.

He frowned, unintentionally causing her face to fall and her shoulders to slump. A memory flared up, of her reaction to seeing him regenerate without warning. Of her doubts. Of her asking him to change back. It was the mental slap he needed to start moving.

He closed the distance between them, stopping just before their toes touched. He took hold of her hand, marveling at the way it felt different but still fit so perfectly in his.

“Is this alright?” she asked, uncertainty laced with hope, the pitch in her new voice just slightly lower than before. Still...it was music to his ears.

“I like it,” he replied earnestly.

“Yeah?” Rose looked up at him from beneath her lashes.

“Yes.” He gave her hand a brief squeeze and smiled at her. She may look different, but she was still Rose Tyler. His hearts would belong to her no matter her appearance.

She relaxed and returned his smile, warmth shining in her eyes.

“But Rose…” He began, unable to stop himself. “How?”

“I honestly don't know,” she said, schrunching up her nose as she tried to remember. “A lot of little clues I guess, looking back on it. Healing faster than I should was the biggest hint. One of the jumps went...horribly wrong.” She brushed her thumb back and forth over the back of his, sensing the tension creep into his body. “I couldn't tell you the details. I blacked out before I even got back. The medical staff told me that I should have been dead from the injuries I had sustained, at the very least I should have been in a lengthy coma. Twelve hours rest and my mum spilling tea on my sheets was apparently all the time I needed to bounce back.”

The Doctor opened his mouth to ask another question, one of several brewing in his mind, but he was rudely interrupted.

“Can we figure out the how’s and why’s later, Doc?” Jack interrupted. “In case you forgot, the daleks are about to destroy the entire universe.”

He took a deep breath, hating to admit that Jack was right. He focused on the woman before him, hoping his sudden anxiety would be for nothing.

“What do you say, Rose Tyler, are you ready for a new adventure?”

She tilted her head, giving him a coy smile, “New adventure. New new Rose.”


End file.
